Various types of security seals for sealing bags or the like have been proposed and, for example, the most common security seal consists essentially of a lead seal member having a plurality of through holes therein through which a drawstring or the like is serially passed, with the lead seal member being subsequently crimped by a crimping tool so as to secure the drawstrings around an opening of the bag and thereby prevent access thereto.
One disadvantage of the conventional lead type security seal resides in the fact that, if the seal is not properly crimped, it is possible to loosen the drawstring sufficiently to gain access to the bag without removing the drawstring, tamper with the contents of the bag, and redraw and drawstring without providing any evidence of tampering.
Another disadvantage of the lead seal resides in the fact that the seal is not reusable and, to gain authorized entry, the lead seal member is generally severed and discarded.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,477 proposes a security seal with a break-off screw head securement wherein a block shaped retainer is provided with through holes so as to permit the passage of a drawstring, with a manual anchoring of the tie member in the retainer being accomplished by engagement of a working end of a screw head against the drawstring, with the head of the screw then being broken off and discarded.
Recently, more attempts have been given to environmental issues and there is considerable concern relating to the use of lead and the subsequent disposal thereof. Thus, attempts have been made to provide a seal arrangement which ensures security but which is fashioned from a material which is less detrimental to the environment than lead.
For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,223,424, 4,306,745, 4,333,210, 4,365,833, 4,610,053, 4,676,535 and 4,895,402, various types of security seals are proposed which are fashioned of a plastic material.
A common disadvantage shared by the above-noted proposed seals resides in the fact that they are all multi-partite and, consequently, not only relatively expensive to manufacture and assemble but also somewhat difficult to manipulate when being applied to the bag to be sealed, in addition to not necessarily precluding a tampering with the contents of a sealed bag.